Ted Kennedy (D-MA) had originally planned to run, but he had decided not to after President Rockefeller’s assassination and John Tower’s popularity.

The campaign trail was bitter. Slowly but surely different candidates would drop out, and the only candidates that remained in the running would be Jackson, Brown, Carter, McGovern, Udall, Church, and Byrd. McGovern would attack Jackson as a racist for opposing desegregation busing, while Jackson would deride McGovern as a crazy far left liberal. Robert Byrd, who only won two primaries, would criticize Jackson and McGovern for contributing to party disunity during the 1972 Presidential Election. Jackson would end up winning most of the primaries. Carter would prove to be a sectional candidate, whose outsider status did not seem to make a dent in the rest of the nation. He did however perform well in the South. Jerry Brown and Frank Church did not win many primaries, since they had entered the race too late. Jackson was especially popular with big labor, foreign policy hawks, and blue collar Democrats. McGovern was popular among the “new left” and liberals. Carter was popular among Southern Democrats. The west for the most part, was split between Udall, Church, and Brown.

By the Democratic National Convention, Henry Jackson had won more delegates than necessary to win the nomination. He was anxious not to lose the liberal voters who had deserted the Democrats in 1972 for the Republicans and McGovern’s independent ticket. Thus, Jackson selected the liberal Arizona representative Morris “Mo” Udall as his Vice Presidential candidate, even though they disagreed on several issues. At his nomination speech, Jackson promised to end détente with the Soviet Union, to end busing, and to enact policies friendly to big labor. However, due to President Rockefeller’s assassination, Jackson did not criticize any of Rockefeller’s policies or actions. Unlike the 1972 and 1968 Democratic National Conventions, the 1976 Democratic National Convention was relatively peaceful, and for the most part, the Democratic Party seemed to unite behind the Jackson/Udall Ticket. George McGovern was the only Democrat who had ran in the primaries that refused to endorse Jackson.

Polling was never close for the 1976 Presidential Election. Tower always had a comfortable lead over the Washington Senator. While Jackson campaigned hard for the Presidency, he was never able to break Tower’s lead. President Tower would travel to the South and campaign for “states rights,” which would win over socially conservative Southerners that ordinarily would have voted Democratic. This new approach would be called the “Southern Strategy,” which was unprecedented in the Republican Party. For the first time since 1960, a series of Presidential debates were held on television. Both Tower and Jackson performed well, and none of the debates were ever seen as game changers. However, the Vice Presidential Debate was a potential October Surprise, since Vice President Gerald Ford would proclaim “there is no Soviet Domination in Eastern Europe, and there never will be under a Tower Administration.” This comment allowed Jackson to avoid losing in a landslide. Nevertheless, Tower’s lead in the polls only decreased by a little. On November 2, 1976, President Tower would win his first legal term by a convincing margin. Many political analysts believe that the American people were still in great mourning over President Rockefeller’s untimely murder, and that they were not ready for a new President. Many theorize that Jackson would have won had President Rockefeller not died. Nevertheless, Tower made a commanding sweep of the south, carrying every southern state but WV. However, some Southern states, like MO and KY were very close. Overall, the sympathy vote carried Tower through Election Day.

Awesome if Tower's term is anywhere as bad as Jimmy's IOTL, He may be pushed back into his heavy drinking and womanizing as an escape for the harshness of the era. With his Texas sized ego I could definatley see him trying to run again in 1980 despite some unpopularity. But if any of that stuff gets to the public, Teddy will have a cakewalk to the presidency despite his own problems with Booze and the ladies lol...Keep it comming.

President Tower’s convincing victory brought with him coattails, and while the Republicans by no means were close to control of Congress, they managed to eliminate the Senate’s filibuster proof majority and put the Democrats farther from a veto proof majority in the House. Probably the most remembered Republican victory of the night was Ronald Reagan’s Senate victory in California. Nevada governor Paul Laxalt, who was defeated in 1974 by Harry Reid by a slim margin, once again made a run for the Senate, and was able to narrowly defeat incumbent Howard Cannon by a very slim margin. In the House elections, Republicans were able to win 25 seats. One notable freshman included Newt Gingrich (R-GA).

The Cabinet of John TowerVice President: Gerald FordSecretary of State: Howard BakerSecretary of Treasury: John ConnallySecretary of Defense: Donald RumsfeldNational Security Advisor: Henry KissingerAttorney General: James RhodesSecretary of Interior: George H.W. BushSecretary of Labor: Lloyd BentsenSecretary of Agriculture: John Block Secretary of Commerce: George RomneySecretary of Health and Human Services: Caspar WeinbergerSecretary of Housing and Urban Development: Edward BrookeSecretary of Transportation: Bob DoleSecretary of Energy: James SchlesingerSecretary of Education: William Bennett

From 1975-1977, President John Tower deviated very little from the deceased President Rockefeller’s planned course. He asked all of Rockefeller’s cabinet to stay, and he signed bills that he knew President Rockefeller planned to or would have signed, such as the creation of a federal Department of Energy, spending increases, etc. Now that President Tower had been elected in his own right, he was ready to govern his own way as well.

In a radical move from his predecessor, he reorganized President Rockefeller’s cabinet, retiring and switching around some secretaries. Perhaps the greatest change had to be the appointment of Howard Baker and Donald Rumsfeld in the place of Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Secretary of Defense Richard Nixon. While Secretary Henry Kissinger would no longer serve as Secretary of State, President Tower appointed him to National Security Advisor. These cabinet switches left a bad taste in the mouths of Rockefeller Republicans, but conservatives were generally satisfied with President Tower’s cabinet changes.

Some triumphs for Tower would include authorizing Airline Deregulation and the Camp David Accords, where he would help broker an agreement between Israel and Egypt. Also, Tower would refuse to give Panama Canal to the nation of Panama, maintaining that the canal was American property. While conservatives applauded the move, liberals were outraged.

Senator Reagan, with the help of conservative Republicans and boll weevil Democrats, authored a tax cut, called the Economy Recovery Tax Act of 1977, which would bring taxes down from 90% to 28%. Due to the California Senator’s charisma, the tax cut was able to be passed by members of both parties in both houses, though by tight margins, since liberals resisted it. Speaker Tip O’Neill would call Reagan’s tax cut “a Christmas Party for the rich.” President Tower signed ERTA, even though he had some reservations about the deficits certain to be incurred, and he was unsure of whether signing a tax cut was a good idea in times of inflation.

Additionally, the economy soured under Tower’s watch. Although the tax cuts reduced unemployment, inflation was up in double digits, interest rates were high, deficits were high, oil was scarce, and oil prices were high. President Tower seemed indecisive and helpless in this economic malaise.

In an attempt to eliminate some of the deficit and avoid the full brunt of inflation, President Tower would sign the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1978, which offset some of the ERTA tax cuts, and started spending restraints. Unfortunately, TEFRA did not help with the growing inflation problem, deficits still increased, and President Tower’s policies were considered useless. In addition, President Tower was not charismatic enough to pacify conservatives who saw TERFA as pandering to the left. Conservatives were also dissatisfied with President Tower for his pro-choice stance on abortion.

Considering that things were going not so smoothly for the Tower Administration, the 1978 midterm elections were almost certain to be brutal. All the stress that President Tower had to deal with had accumulated, and President Tower resorted to alcoholism and numerous affairs with various women. The media however, had not picked up on Tower's behavior yet, and he hoped they never would.

To make matters worse, Tower would have yet another huge crisis on his hands.

Things don't look really good for President Tower don't they,At this rate he may even face a Challenge from the Rockefeller Republican Wing of the Party...Anderson annyone? I kinda would like to see someone other than Teddy get the nod in '80...maybe Governor Hugh Carey, Vice Presidential nominee Mo Udall, Governor Jerry Brown etc...Keep it comming!!!

Due to President Tower’s unpopularity, the 1978 Midterm Elections were a blowout for the Republicans. The Democrats picked up a net of five Senate seats, giving them a filibuster proof majority. Not only that, but the Democrats picked up 33 seats in the House, enough for a veto-proof majority. One bright side of the election for the Republicans was that George W. Bush, son of the Secretary of the Interior George H.W. Bush, won election for the House of Representatives by a close margin. Texas Senator John Hill, who had won the special election to fill Democratic Senator John Connally’s seat, once again won re-election in Texas. By a close margin, William Cohen (R-ME) was able to hold onto Rockefeller Secretary Margaret Chase Smith’s Senate, which after Smith’s ascension to the Cabinet, was filled by Maine Attorney General William Dubord. Al Gore’s son, Al Gore, Jr., was able to pick up his father’s seat. Although Gore had only served in Congress for two years, his connection to his father, his military experience, and John Tower’s unpopularity propelled him to the Senate. All in all the 1978 Midterm Elections were a referendum on the unpopularity of the Tower Administration.

On February 1979, the Shah of Iran was overthrown by Ayatollah Khomeini. Although President Tower did not give the Shah military aid, he did allow the Shah to come to the United States for medical treatment. As a result, on November 4, 1979, fifty-three Americans were taken hostage at the Embassy in Iran. The Iranian Militants demanded:

1. The return of the Shah to Iran for trial. 2. The return of the Shah's wealth to the Iranian people. 3. An admission of guilt by the United States for its past actions in Iran, plus an apology. 4. A promise from the United States not to interfere in Iran's affairs in the future.

Many clamored in anger against the Iranian government, and polls showed that Americans were willing to go to war, though President Tower and Kissinger decided against it. President Tower considered all his options. He first froze all Iranian assets. Tower also tried negotiations, but those failed. Eventually, President Tower tried to rescue the hostages militarily through Operation Eagle Claw, on December 20, 1979. The operation failed miserably due to a sandstorm, and 8 American servicemen were killed. The failure of Operation Eagle Claw was an embarrassment to the Tower Administration, and gave the new Iranian Government confidence. All in all, nothing that he did seemed to rescue the hostages. The Iran Hostage Crisis made Tower look like an indecisive leader. Eugene McCarthy would comment: "John Tower quite simply abdicated the whole responsibility of the presidency while in office. He left the nation at the mercy of its enemies at home and abroad. He was the worst president we ever had."

The economy showed no signs of recovery as inflation would continue to eat up the paychecks of many workers. Nothing Tower did seemed to help. He raised taxes once more, but that didn’t help with the inflation problem. The fact that Tower cut taxes with ERTA only to raise them again (even though the raises were substantially smaller than the tax levels under Rockefeller’s presidency) made him seem like a flip-flop, a title Democrats would call him. Additionally, President Tower would sign a second Strategic Arms Limitation Act with Brezhnev in 1979, at NSA Henry Kissinger’s behest. SALT II did nothing to further Tower’s popularity, and Senators Ronald Reagan and Scoop Jackson would criticize President Tower for selling out the United States to the Soviet Union.

Additionally, a Pennsylvania Nuclear Power Plant at Three Mile Island failed due to a partial meltdown of the reactor core, causing radioactive material to be released into the environment. While the claim was made that nobody was hurt, reporters later found that lung cancer and leukemia rates were higher, as was infant mortality. The disaster at Three Mile Island would only serve to increase President Tower’s already considerable unpopularity.

All that had happened seemed to be to the detriment of Tower. Even the conservative faction of the Republican Party opposed Tower, due to his détente policies, TERFA, his pro-choice stance, the failures of the Iran Hostage Crisis, and more. His approval ratings had been brought down to a measly 28%.

Despite President Tower’s unpopularity, he still decided to run, mainly due to pride and ego. Just when President Tower believed things couldn’t get any worse, Senator Ronald Wilson Reagan announced that he would challenge President Tower for the Republican Nomination. Reagan never imagined that he’d challenge the President for the nomination, but he felt that the Tower Administration was so incompetent that it was his national duty to run for President.

Polling showed that Republicans favored Reagan to Tower 2-1, although Tower would privately mutter “I’ll kick his ass if he runs.” About a week after the Senator’s announcement, Illinois Representative John Bayard Anderson announced that he too, would challenge the President for the nomination, proclaiming that President Tower had abandoned the Rockefeller legacy and that Anderson, not Tower, was the heir apparent to President Rockefeller.

John Tower, who had an 89% approval rating at the beginning of his term, was now being challenged by both the left and the right of the GOP.

Here's some advice: Have Tower tell the Iranian regime that the U.S. will bomb them until all the hostages are freed. If the Iranians start killing the hostages, have Tower declare war on Iran and annihilate the crap out of them.

Here's some advice: Have Tower tell the Iranian regime that the U.S. will bomb them until all the hostages are freed. If the Iranians start killing the hostages, have Tower declare war on Iran and annihilate the crap out of them.

The 1980 Republican Primaries proved to be a huge slugfest, which was ironic considering that Tower was the incumbent who had won the Republican Primaries unopposed four years ago. Reagan and Anderson would criticize Tower on all fronts, namely the economic malaise and the Iran Hostage crisis. Many primaries would be close. Ronald Reagan would make a huge imprint in the West, which warmed up to his limited government message. Anderson would do well among Rockefeller Republicans in the Northeast, even winning the important New Hampshire primary by a close margin, an important primary that an incumbent president should have won. By campaigning on the deceased President Rockefeller’s legacy, Anderson was able to win a close victory in New York, with Tower coming in second place. Tower won most of the Southern states by close margins, largely due to his Texas residency, despite Reagan’s conservative message. Considering that both Reagan and Anderson symbolically represented the A.B.T. movement (Anybody But Tower), they siphoned votes from each other in the primaries even though the two represented very different ideologies. As a result, President Tower was able to sustain himself throughout the primaries. Although Reagan did not win a majority of the delegates in the primaries, historians theorize that if Anderson not made his campaign, Reagan probably would have won the primaries.

Blue-ReaganRed-TowerGreen-Anderson

No candidate had a majority of delegates needed to win the nomination. President Tower carried a slight plurality of delegates, but Senator Reagan and Congressman Anderson closely followed him. As a result, all three candidates headed up to the RNC with high hopes that they would win the big prize.

At the Convention, Senator Reagan made a huge blunder when he announced that if nominated, he would pick moderate Pennsylvania Senator Richard Schweiker as his Vice Presidential nominee. Conservatives were outraged, wanting a more conservative candidate. As a result, few of Tower’s conservative delegates switched over to the California Senator and very few of Tower’s moderate delegates even cared that Schweiker was to be nominated for Vice President. Reagan and Anderson considered joining forces and creating a “Stop Tower” movement, but neither agreed to endorse each other, and the movement fell apart.

Tower’s moderate delegates were in an awkward position. They were far from happy with President Tower, but the “yahoo” actor from California was too conservative for their tastes, and they didn’t like the “inexperienced” Anderson’s liberalism either. They stuck with President Tower as a result. As a result, President Tower would be renominated on the first ballot by a tight margin. Vice President Gerald Ford would be renominated by a more comfortable margin, though some of Reagan’s delegates symbolically voted for Reagan as the Vice Presidential nominee.

After losing the nomination, John Anderson and his delegates stormed out of the convention. Anderson announced that he would run as an independent ticket, and to convince Rockefeller Republicans to vote for him, he chose former New York City Mayor and Rockefeller Secretary of Transportation John V. Lindsay as his Vice Presidential running mate.

Senator Reagan would take the defeat much more gracefully. He reluctantly endorsed President Tower, giving a great eloquent speech that was not only considered the pinnacle of Reagan’s political career but was also considered to have overshadowed President Tower’s acceptance speech, which was inarticulate and lackluster. Despite his endorsement for President Tower, Senator Reagan failed to raise Tower’s hand up in the air, as a sign of party unity. This left many Reagan supporters reluctant to support the President, and many were planning to stay home.

All in all, the 1980 Republican Convention left many Republicans wondering if they had nominated the wrong guy, and wondering whether Reagan should have been nominated. The Republicans exited the Convention far less enthusiastically than they did in 1976.

Many had expected Edward “Ted” Kennedy to make a run for the Democratic Nomination. However, Kennedy did not run. Kennedy would write in his memoirs: “I was convinced that Tower was so incompetent that the Democratic Party would win big in the 1980 Elections, so I didn’t feel I had the need to run, since I had already carved out a nice place for myself in the Senate. I didn’t really want to be President that much, and if you were to ask me why I wanted to be President, I’m not sure if I would have been able to give a precise, articulate answer. If we had an incompetent Democratic President running the show in the late ‘70s however, I might have run against him in an attempt to save the party from the Republicans.”

In the absence of Senator Kennedy’s candidacy, several Democrats joined the fray. Jerry Brown, governor of California, was the first to declare his candidacy. Jimmy Carter, Georgia’s Governor and Southern favorite son, also declared his candidacy. The other Democrats that would run would include Morris “Mo” Udall and Hugh Carey. Brown would clearly win a majority of the states in the primaries, and while Carter put up a good fight, he was never able to defeat the Brown momentum after Brown won the important Iowa Caucuses and New Hampshire Primaries. Udall and Carey just simply were unable to make a huge impact in the primaries, largely because both of them had decided they wanted the Presidency way too late. Other Democrats came and went, but did not make a dent in the primaries.

Red-BrownBlue-CarterYellow-UdallGreen-Carey

By the Democratic National Convention, Brown had won more than enough delegates to sweep the nomination, and he was nominated with little fuss, which was uplifting compared to the split Republicans. The mood of the night was optimistic, and nothing went wrong. In order to appease Southern Democrats and moderates, Brown would choose the runner up in the primaries, Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter. All in all, the Democrats were energized and ready to take on the Tower/Ford ticket and the Anderson/Lindsay ticket and send the Brown/Carter ticket to the White House. After 12 years of Republican rule, the Democrats felt that this was their chance.

Go Brown/Carter!!!, This race should be a fairly exciting one, as I think Jerry made a huge rookie mistake at not picking up someone more well-versed in Foreign Policy. Tower, being the strong Defense ties that he has will probably make this the issues of the campaign and as well as Brown's Youth and Inexpeirence(He'd be the Youngest President inaugurated if he won, 42!!! Also Anderson should have a considerable effect on the race especially in the Northeast...Keep it comming!!!

The election was shaping up to be interesting. Brown and Anderson would heavily capitalize on President Tower’s failures regarding the economy and the Iran Hostage Crisis. The election however, would be far from a complete Tower Bashing, as Tower would criticize the Brown/Carter ticket for being too inexperienced, since if elected, Brown would the youngest President at 42 years old. “During these times,” President Tower remarked on the campaign trail, “Experience is absolutely necessary to guide the United States. Both Brown and Carter are way too inexperienced to lead the White House.” Brown and Carter would campaign as outsiders against a Republican ticket that, in Brown's words, had “spent too much time in Washington, D.C.” John Anderson campaigned for a gas tax and fiscal austerity. The gas tax proposal was not well received by voters. Anderson’s campaign attracted intellectuals, very liberal Democrats, and Rockefeller Republicans.

Additionally, rumors sprung during the election campaign, as it was rumored that President Tower was in fact an alcoholic womanizer (which was actually true). Tower always denied the rumors, and there wasn’t enough proof at the time to prove these allegations were, in fact, true. However, the rumors certainly didn’t help him, and decades after the election the rumors were proven true. At the advice of his campaign staffers, Brown would post several campaign ads attacking Tower for his bacchanalian behavior, and Tower would attack them as smear campaigns.

As with the last Presidential Election, several debates were scheduled between Tower, Brown, and Anderson. Also, a vice presidential debate was to be held between Ford, Carter, and Lindsay. However, Tower refused to debate with Anderson, and Brown refused to debate without Anderson. This led to several debates being canceled, although Brown would debate Anderson in a little publicized two way debate, which was largely considered a draw. Eventually Brown ceded to President Tower’s demands and agreed to debate…without Anderson present. Right before the debate, polls showed a slight and insignificant Tower lead, with the election too close to call.

At the debate, President Tower would refuse to shake Governor Brown’s hand, much to the surprise of everybody. When asked why, Tower would say: “My opponent has slurred my reputation. My kind of American doesn’t shake hands with that kind of man.”

Everybody was stunned, but the debate went on.

Governor Brown would surprisingly urge for limited government and “an era of limits.” At President Tower’s proposed idea of increasing military spending, Brown would say: “People always say money. Give us more resources; give us more planning, more experts. Well I would only say, the Vietnam War. The other side had less resources, less planning, less experts, less P.H.D.s, and they won.”

President Tower was shocked. He had planned to attack Governor Brown as a “tax and spend liberal,” but Brown had outsmarted him. He then said, “That was unpatriotic and uncalled for, Governor.” But his response did not gain as much traction from TV viewers as Brown’s did.

President Tower would also try to play up his experience at the debate. He said: “Governor Brown is a nice man, but he does not have the foreign policy experience necessary to be Commander-In-Chief of the United States Armed Forces. He has no foreign policy experience, and is simply too young to be President. I have served as Vice-President under President Nelson Rockefeller, helping him create his successful foreign policy. I have also served in the Pacific Theater in World War II and both the Armed Forces Committee and the Joint Committee on Defense Production in the Senate. With my experience in World War II, the Rockefeller Administration, the Senate, and my own administration, I believe that I am the only qualified candidate in this election to serve as the President of the United States.”

Everybody that watched the debate on television was stunned. What would the California Governor say to the President's long resumé?

Brown replied: “There you go again. You’ve got a point there, Mr. President. I don’t have the experience to lose our credibility abroad, as you have. I don’t have the experience to experience to create a foreign policy that keeps Americans in the hands of Iranian terrorists, as you have. I don’t have the experience to throw the country in a recession, as you have.”

The “There you go again” remark was considered the pinnacle of the debate. While polls indicated a small Tower lead before the debate, the polls indicated a Brown landslide afterwards. Americans were shocked at President Tower’s rudeness and Governor Brown’s exceptional performance.

Due to the Iran Hostage Crisis, Brown’s performance at the debate, and the bad economy, nobody was surprised when on November 4, 1980, Jerry Brown won in a landslide. While John Anderson did not win any electoral votes, he won a great share of the popular vote (for an independent candidacy). Anderson’s presence made several states very close. His greatest strength was among the New England Republican base, since many Rockefeller Republicans that couldn’t stand Tower but didn’t warm up to the quirky California Governor. Indeed, the only New England state that Tower carried was New Hampshire, which arguably was thrown to him by Anderson’s candidacy, since Anderson had enough votes to thrown New Hampshire to either Tower or Brown. Anderson would also come second Washington D.C., Vermont, and Rhode Island. Carter’s presence on the Democratic ticket did what it was supposed to: it took many of the Southern States, though many Southern States were close. The only Southern States Tower carried were his home state (by 303 votes), Alabama, Mississippi, and Virginia. All of Tower’s Southern states were carried on narrow margins.